Smoke-consumer.



M. E. REED.

SMOKE CONSUMER.

APPLIGATIQN FILED MAY 25, 1910. 1,035,741. Patented Aug. 13, 1912.

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M. E. REED. SMOKE CONSUMER.

- APPLICATION FILED MAYZE, 1910.

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MILTON EUGENE REED, OF ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR TO LOCOMOTIVE- EQUIPMENT COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

SMOKE-CONSUMER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented A11 13,1912.

Application filed May 25, 1910. Serial No. 563,436.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, MILTON E. Reno, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Annapolis, county of Anne Arundel, State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Smoke-Consumers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a device for supplying air to the combustion space of a water tube boiler furnace, and is of the general type of appliance known as smoke consumers.

An object of my invention is to produce a new and improved device of this type which can be applied to boilers which are already installed without the removal of tubes or dismemberment of the boiler setting. My smoke consumer also possesses unusual efiiciency in that the air which it introduces is thoroughly mixed with the gases when at their highest temperature and during the period of most rapid combustion.

A further object of my invention is to produce a smoke consumer which may be easily installed and removed, and the exposed parts of which may be conveniently made of vitreous material, so that it resists for a long time the high temperatures to which it is subjected.

The smoke consumer of my invention in one form consists of a number of hollow members or tiles of resistive material supported between the lower tubes, and a conduit for supplying air to the spaces, chambers, or passages within the hollow tiles. The walls of the tiles are perforated to permit the air to escape into the combustion space, and the conduit may be provided with nipples, one for each air chamber or passage, the hollow members being apertured to receive the nipples.

In the apparatus embodying my invention, as shown, there is a roof to the combustion chamber or a battle, of which the tiles to which I have referred form a part. The hollow perforated tiles are placed over the hottest portion of the fire, or in the path of the gases where they reach their highest temperature. The tiles are preferably supported upon and between the tubes, and, as shown, the tiles between any particular pair of tubes may have their hollow portions placed in communication, and part only of the hollow tiles may be perforated. One tile of each set thus formed, as shown, the one which is not perforated, may be plerced with an aperture extending from the central opening to the top of the roof or battle, 2'. e., the side away from the fire. A supply conduit extends across the roof, spanning the different sets of hollow tiles, and is provided with nipples or nozzles, one of which enters each such aperture. To this conduit air is supplied from any suitable source.

The efiiciency of the operation of this device is increased by heating the air supply. This may be convenlently accomplished by means of a coil placed in the path of the escaping gases. Through this coil the air supply is drawn and then injected into the conduit by any suitable means.

For the purpose of illustration and in order that the operation of my smoke consumer may be clearly understood, I have shown it in connection with a particular type of water tube boiler and furnace. However, I desire to have it understood that this is done merely for the purpose of illustration, and that the device is capable of being used with slight or no modification in connection with any of the various types of water tube boilers.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of a Babcock & WVilcox water tube boiler and setting, to which the smoke consumer of the invention has been applied. Figs. 2, 3 and 4 are details of the hollow tiles or distributing members. Fig. 5 is a transverse section through the boiler tubes, showing some of the hollow tiles, also in section, and a fragment of the transverse conduit in elevation.

The boiler and furnace shown are of a well-known construction, and will be readily understood by those skilled in the art. In order to identify the terms used herein, the different parts of the structure will be indicated by reference characters. It consists of a grate 1, a combustion chamber 2, water tubes 3, water legs 4, drum 5, upright'or transverse battles (3 and 7, and a longitudinal battle or fire box roof 8. The roof or battle 8, as shown (see particularly Fig. 5), is composed of tiles 9, which rest between and upon the water tubes. The particular type of tile shown is of width equal to the disnipple.

tance from center to center of the tubes in the row to which it is applied. The upper surface 10 is flat or slightly arched. The sides 11 are cut away on the line of a circular arc of radius slightly greater than the radius of the tubes, and the lower surface 12, as shown, is flat. The outline, shape and material of these tiles may be varied indefinitely wit-hin the scope of my invention.

They are preferably applied to the lower row of tubes or to one of the lower rows, and the tiles 13, which are in the path of the burning gases as they leave the combustion chamber, are hollowed out at 14 to form a passage or. chamber for air. As shown, the passages 14 of the set of tiles between each pair of tubes 3 are in alinement and communicate one with the other, forming a single continuous passage, which is closed at each extremity by any suitable means, as plugs 15 at one end and the imperforate tiles 9 at the other. As shown, the walls of the air chambers 14 which are toward the combustion space, in this case the lower walls, are perforated at 17 to permit the air to escape into the combustion chamber, and the perforations are deflected to distribute the air to the best advantage, whereby it is caused to mingle and become thoroughly mixed with the current of burning gases which passes adjacent and in contact with the portion of the baffle thus perforated. In the embodiment of my invention herein shown, the hollow tile 18 of the communicating set between each pair of tubes, preferably the one most remote from the edge, is made wit-h its bottom wall imperforate. An air conduit 21, placed transversely of the tubes, overlies the tiles 18, and is provided with a series of nipples or nozzles 20, one of which communicates with the chamber 22 of each such tile, the tiles being each apertured at 19 to receive the corresponding It will be noted that the thickness of the conduit and the length of the nipples is less in extent than the space between the tops of the tiles and the next row of tubes above, so that the conduit may be easily inserted through an aperture made in one side of the furnace, moved into its position on the fire box roof, and lowered until the nipples enter the corresponding apertures in the tiles. duit 21 is above the roof or battle 8, and pro tected thereby from the intense heat of the incandescent fuel and burning gases below. Therefore this conduit may be and generally is made of metal. Communicating with the conduit and leading from the outside air by way of a heating coil 23 and an inlet nozzle 24, is an air pipe 25, into which the air is drawn and from which it is expelled into the conduit 21 by means of a steam injector 26.

The operation of my device will be easily understood from the foregoing description.

It should be noted that the con The hollow tiles 13 and 18 may be substituted for the corresponding solid tiles in any boiler setting having a tile baflie or roof, or the tiles may be similarly applied to one of the lower rows of tubes of other boilers, being substituted for a baflie or otherwise placed as circumstances dictate. A small aperture to admit the conduit 21 is made in the side of the furnace. The conduit, being so formed that it may pass between the tubes, is inserted and lowered until each nipple 20 enters the aperture 19 in the top surface of one tile of each set between each pair of tubes, The coil is placed above the tubes in the path of the escaping gases, preferably between the drum and the tubes, as shown, and connected to the conduit 21 by any suitable pipe, and some means, as the injector 26, is provided for moving air through the tube and coil into the conduit. The air thus forced into the hollows 14 of the tiles 13 escapes through the diverging perforations 17 and is thoroughly mixed with the burning gases, which at this point are at a sufliciently high temperature to combine immediately with the entering current of air, so that the free carbon is oxidized and eliminated and utilized in the production of heat at a point where it can be most efliciently transferred and communicated to the tubes.

1 have thus described my invention in detail in connection with .a particular type of furnace and boiler in order that its operation may be clearly understood, but it is applicable to the various different types of water tube boilers and furnaces, and its form and the material of which it is con structed may be widely varied within the scope of my invention.

What I claim is:

1. In a boiler furnace having a combustion space, boiler tubes in the furnace, a battle apertured to form air passages and perforated to form inlets from the passages into the combustion space, the baffle being adjacent and extending in the direction of some of the tubes, a duct for supplying air, the duct being inside the furnace and having nipples, one for each passage, the baflle having an aperture leading to each passage and adapted to receive the corresponding nipple, the transverse dimension of the duct, including the length of the nipple, being less than the space between the baffle and the adjacent row of tubes.

2. In a boiler furnace, water tubes, hollow members supported on the tubes and perforated to distribute the air, a supply duct within the furnace extending transversely 'of the tubes and having nipples, the hollow members being apertured to receive the nipples, the transverse dimension of the duct, in the direction of the length of the nipples, being less than the distance between the tubes, so that the apparatus may be installed without removing the boiler tubes.

3. In a water tube boiler setting, having a fire box and tubes, a roof for the fire box composed of tiles resting on and between the tubes of one of the lower rows, some of the tiles being hollowed to form air passages and perforated to permit the escape of the air, and means for supplying air to the passages consisting of a supply conduit extending across the tubes and roof, and having nipples, the tiles being apertured to receive the nipples so that they communicate one with each air passage.

4. In a boiler furnace having a fire box, substantially parallel rows of tubes, hollow tiles resting upon and between the pairs of adjacent tubes of one row, the tiles perforated on the side toward the fire box, a conduit Within the furnace transverse to the tubes, nipples on the conduit and corresponding sockets in the tiles, the diameter of the conduit measured in the direction of the length of the nipples being less than the distance between the tiles and the next row of tubes.

5. In a water tube boiler and setting, water tubes some of which are in a row and substantially parallel, hollow perforated tiles resting on the tubes, each tile having Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the an upper portion of width equal to the dis tance from center to center of the tubes and a lower portion of less width to fit between the tubes and laterally concave to conform to their surfaces, a transverse conduit resting on the tops of the tiles of less depth than the distance between the tiles and the tubes next above, and means for connecting the hollow of each tile with the conduit.

6. In a water tube boiler and setting, water tubes some of which are in a row and substantially parallel, hollow perforated tiles resting on the tubes, each tile having an upper portion of width equal to the distance from center to center of the tubes and a lower portion of less width to fit between the tubes and laterally concave to conform' a transverse conduit resting on the tops of the tiles of less depth than the distance between the tiles and the tubes next above, and a nipple and socket connection between the hollow of each tile and the conduit.

Signed by me at Annapolis, Maryland, this 20th day of May 1910.

MILTON EUGENE REED.

Witnesses:

S. M. Itonmson, FRANCIS S. WRITTEN.

to their surfaces,

Commissioner of I'atents,

Washington, D. 0. 

